Ramos visits Moslem region

Ramos visits Moslem region

COTABATO, Philippines (AFP): Philippine President Fidel Ramos visited the troubled Moslem south yesterday to bolster confidence among foreign aid donors that a year-old peace treaty with separatist guerrillas is working.

The half-day visit, which ended without any reports of guerrilla activity, included inspection tours of two heavily- secured dam projects -- one backed by Japan in the town of Carmen, and another in the town of Shariff Aguak.

The visit was made amid renewed tension with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), whose leadership opened peace negotiations with Manila this year after a 19-year separatist campaign.

"We would like to assure our foreign benefactors that the peace process with the MILF is successful and that development is continuing and that we will before long attain a condition of enduring peace and sustainable development," he said in a news conference here.